Still no luck finding man in Lake Arthur

Monday

May 21, 2007 at 12:01 AM

By Michael Pound, Calkins Media

MUDDY CREEK TWP. - For the third consecutive day, murky water conditions at Moraine State Park complicated the search for the body of a New Sewickley Township man who fell from his sailboat Saturday afternoon.

Monday's search for 60-year-old George Sciullo was punctuated by moments of optimism, but in the end, the limited underwater visibility kept fire department divers from making progress.

"It's like swimming in chocolate milk," said Mark Lauer, chief of the Unionville Volunteer Fire Department in Center Township, Butler County. "You just can't see a thing."

That's been the problem since Sciullo, who was sailing with his girlfriend, was knocked from the back of his boat into Lake Arthur's chilly water by a gust of wind, somewhere along the north shore between Davis Hollow Marina and Watts Bay Marina.

Early Monday afternoon, cadaver dogs hit on an area about 300 yards east of Worth Point, and divers from Unionville and the Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department concentrated their efforts there, said Rick Carson, chief ranger at the Butler County state park.

"But with the sonar they were using, all we ended up finding were some logs, a snowmobile and a pontoon boat," Carson said. "Even with the help from the dogs, it's just too large an area to search."

Carson said the divers would not continue the search today, but the park's rangers would continue to check the shoreline and watch the water from patrol boats.

"He's going to turn up," Carson said. "It's just a matter of time."

Sciullo's family members watched the search efforts for the first time Monday, following from a picnic table near Watts Bay Marina. Mark Sciullo of Shaler Township said his brother loved the park.

"He kept a house not too far away, but he basically lived here," Mark Sciullo said. "He kept his boat here for at least 25 years, and he easily spent as much time here as he did at home."

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